After a long stint with autos, I've recently gone back to carrying a j-frame (637) along with 2 speed strips. In my old days of carrying a revolver I used speed loaders and would only carry one because of the bulk. I switched to speed strips because it's easy to carry 2 so I get an extra 5 rounds. All thats great except I'm terrible with the speed strips.

I practice reloading every night but with little improvement. I still fumble around with them, bumping the cylinder and not lining the rounds up right. I'm carrying them in my left back pocket (I'm a south paw) and I find that they are easily accessible there. When loading I also use a scallop hold and rip them off away from my body. I also use a 6 round strip so I have some extra room to work with.
I feel like I'm doing it right but it's still not working.

I know practice makes perfect but is there any advice any one can offer? Maybe a little trick or perhaps something I'm doing wrong?

Are you loading one round at a time or two? Most speed strips you can do 2 at once, so load the J-Frame 2,2,1. I don't usually carry a reload for my J-frame and if I carry a real revo I use God's own invention, moonclips. I hate speedloaders.

You state that you are LEFT handed and keep the strips in your LEFT REAR pocket. Describe what you're doing with each hand during the unload/reload cycle beginning with the last shot fired.

As a right handed person I have my strips in my right front pocket but the gun transitions to my left hand once the cylinder is unlatched and while the left thumb is ejecting the empties the right hand is bringing the speed strip to meet up with the gun directly in front of my body and the left fingers rotate the cylinder to accept 2 rounds, turn, 2 rounds, turn, 1 round and then the strip is dropped as the cylinder is closed and the gun brought back to target.

Speed strips require the use of fine motor skills, the first to fail under fire. Also, during revolver days, I don't know of any police departments that authorized them for duty use. Generally, a left handed shooter should transfer the revolver to his right hand, then clear brass and reload the same as a right handed shooter. In so doing, remember to turn the cylinder with the fingers of your left hand so that the chambers being charged are always furthest away from the frame.

While you may carry semi-wadcutters in your revolver, ammo for reloading should be of the JHP variety as they slip more easily into the chambers and are not as likely to hang up

Practice makes perfect. If you want to carry speed strips... Then perfect your technique. I also carry speed strips as extra ammo when carrying a revolver. Been carrying them for more years than I can remember. While they will probably never be as fast a moonies, or speed loaders... they are a lot easier to carry, and lend to carrying more of them.

As far as losing fine motor skills under fire... that has not been my experience. I believe that practice with the speed strips will give a person the muscle memory for a smooth, and quick reload under fire.

Having practiced for years doing a combat re-load with a revolver it has become second nature. I'd say practice until you can do it blindfolded. Then continue practicing every time you go to the range with your carry gun.

I do have a question though... Why are so many people in such a hurry to run out of ammo?

I carry a j-frame exclusively. That is because I dont expect to be in a situation where a j-frame wouldnt be enough. Snubbies are a deep concealment handgun. They are not meant for use in an extended battle with more than a couple (or three) targets at any given moment.

So, exactly how fast do you REALLY need...or expect...to reload your j-frame with a speed strip?

I think speed strips are a good compromise between concealability and speed. They serve a simple purpose. Speed strips are better than carrying extra cartridges loose in your pocket and they happen to be far more concealable than speed loaders. That is really the goal here, isnt it? I have only needed to be proficient with speed strips to consistently reload smoothly. Nothing more, nothing less.

Like the old adage goes: slow is smooth, smooth is fast.

__________________
NRA Life Member (2003)
USN Retired
I think that one of the notions common to the anti-gunner is the idea that being a victim is 'noble'; as if it is better to be noble in your suffering than disruptive in your own defense.

You state that you are LEFT handed and keep the strips in your LEFT REAR pocket. Describe what you're doing with each hand during the unload/reload cycle beginning with the last shot fired.

As a right handed person I have my strips in my right front pocket but the gun transitions to my left hand once the cylinder is unlatched and while the left thumb is ejecting the empties the right hand is bringing the speed strip to meet up with the gun directly in front of my body and the left fingers rotate the cylinder to accept 2 rounds, turn, 2 rounds, turn, 1 round and then the strip is dropped as the cylinder is closed and the gun brought back to target.

Ok,

Gun goes dry, I open the cylinder, move the gun to my right hand, eject spents, reach in my back pocket and retrieve strip, fumble with the reload.

MLeake,

That would be ideal except I don't think I could stand the extra weight.

Skadoosh,

I don't expect to be super fast but rather smooth. I guess my title was mis-worded.

If I slow it down to where I'm not fumbling I might as well not reload at all. In all honesty I believe that the 5 shots is plenty, but for some reason I feel compelled to carry the strips lately. All the classes, books and internet discussions must planned a idea seed in my brain that's starting to bloom.

My solution has been to carry a S&W 3913 in a 'cross-draw' camera bag. When the J-Frame is empty I throw it and reach across, unzip the bag and draw the 3913. I find it a lot faster than fumbling with a speed strip.

__________________Hook686

When the number of people in institutions reaches 51%, we change sides.

Speed strips will never be as fast as speed loaders but they are a lot easier to carry and conceal. The choice is yours but I prefer the ease of carry of the speed strips. With practice, you can get fairly profecient with speed stips.

I only carry revolvers in the winter time...and then, concealing speed loaders are not a problem. I own speed strips for my .41 Mag and .45 LC, just because they make them. But I have never carried the Speed Strips (yet).

When I carried a j-frame 5-6 years ago, I used to watch TV while I practiced reloading with either speedloaders or speed strips. The idea was to do it while not looking at what I was doing...as I imagined that if I were ever in a gunfight and someone was shooting at me, my eyes would be on him or something other than what my hands were doing.

So I practiced doing it (basically) blindfolded. Did it every night until I got reasonably good at it, and then once a week or so thereafter.

"When plunder becomes a way of life for a group of men living together in society,
they create for themselves in the course of time a legal system that authorizes it and a moral code that justifies it." Frederic Bastiat

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